


bring me closer to home

by ilovenutella99



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Kid Fic, So Married, honestly this was an excuse to write fluff, like its a lot, like teeth rotting i have a cavity fluff, solider!bellamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 04:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14370669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovenutella99/pseuds/ilovenutella99
Summary: Bellamy's been overseas for two years, and finally gets to come home. He's glad he's got more than one girl waiting for him at home.





	bring me closer to home

**Author's Note:**

> hello once again this is me avoiding canon bc it is too difficult to write!! anyways hope you enjoy and as always come talk to me on tumblr clrxkeblxke!!

He sees the sign on the door before he gets up the steps. He squints at the words and laughs, recognizing his wife’s loopy handwriting. Clarke had mentioned in her last letter that people keep ringing the doorbell and waking the house up and she’s obviously taken matters into her own hands: _do not ring the doorbell unless there is a nuclear war going on or if you have Girl Scout cookies._

Bellamy has to bite his lip to keep from laughing as he knocks on the door lightly. He hopes the dog doesn’t start barking, which would definitely wake someone up. When it’s been a couple minutes, he knocks louder again, and then the barking starts. Bellamy looks at the window next to the front door and sees Bear sprinting towards it, barking up a storm. He wonders if his dog will still recognize him after being gone for so long.

He was deployed two years ago in August. He wasn’t happy about it, and neither was Clarke. They had just been married in November, and him leaving meant that the majority of their marriage thus far was going to be spent apart. It got even harder when Clarke told him two months into his deployment that she was three months pregnant.

He tried to get let go, he tried his hardest. But his commanding officer couldn’t let him go until the majority of the two years was almost up. Bellamy’s been lucky. He’s been able to write letters to his wife and occasionally video chat. He didn’t expect to be able to. Still, it doesn’t make him feel any better about not being there for a lot of this process. He missed his wife’s entire pregnancy and the first 16 months of his daughter’s life. He’s seen pictures and seen her on Skype a few times, but he still feels awful. There’s a huge chance his daughter won’t know who he is, won’t understand that he’s her father.

Bear continues to bark and then he hears Clarke’s muffled voice. “Bear, come on,” he stops himself from smiling.

He hears the lock click and he fidgets, hands wringing together. The dog gets to him first, practically knocking him over. Bellamy laughs as their retriever jumps into his arms, trying to lick his face. “Hi, Bear,” Bellamy says, trying to get their dog under control. And then Clarke barrels at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “Hey, princess.”

Bear runs in circles around them as Bellamy grips her waist to get a hold on her. “You’re here!”

He laughs, his heart swelling. “I’m here!” Clarke finally pulls her face from his neck and the skin around her eyes is crinkling from smiling, tears forming in them. He examines her for a moment, taking in her shorter hair and the bit of tiredness in her eyes that she could never quite get rid of. Bellamy gets his lips against hers and almost groans at the contact. It’s been so long, so many months. But kissing her feels like coming home, like coming up for a breath of fresh air after being suffocated. Her hands run through his shorter hair as she wraps her legs around her waist. “God, I missed you,” Bellamy says, pulling back to kiss her cheek.

“You didn’t say you’d be getting home early,” she says, wiping under her eyes. He grins and kisses her again, dropping her slowly to the porch.

“Maybe I wanted to surprise you, hm?” He says, hoisting his bag on his shoulder. Clarke fuses over him, taking the other one and leading him back into the house. It looks almost like he remembers it. Almost, if you don’t count the baby toys scattered around the living room and the blanket on the ground. Bear jumps up on his legs again and Bellamy finally bends down to pet his dog.

“You told me six o'clock, not four,” Clarke says, huffing, but it’s obvious she’s thrilled. He had Murphy drop him off on his way home and his friend happily obliged. It’s not every day you get to meet your kid.

“Murphy dropped me off,” Bellamy tells her, scratching behind Bear’s ears before he scurries away to grab a ball. He tosses it into the kitchen and watches as the dog chases after it. He can’t wipe the smile from his face.

Clarke’s voice is muffled as she carries his bag to the laundry room, “it would have given me time to clean up. I didn’t want you to think we had been living like this for two years.”

Bellamy laughs, following her to the laundry room. “I knew you hadn’t,” he murmurs, setting his hands on her waist, “I wanted to surprise you.” Clarke relaxes into him, her body leaning back against his as she dumps his stuff in the washer. He presses kisses to the top of her head and she smiles, relaxing further.

“You did,” she replies, letting him kiss her cheek. “I was angry when Bear started barking but…”

Bellamy grins into her neck, “you’re not angry now.” Clarke shakes her head with a smile, leaning her head back so he can have more access to her neck. “You never can stay angry long.”

“That’s only because I haven’t seen you in two years, I’m sure I’ll go back to being angry at you tomorrow.” Clarke mutters back and he laughs heartily, squeezing her waist again. “I missed you, Bell.”

He spins her around so he can look at her, taking her in. Two years. “I missed you too,” he replies, kissing her again. “God, _I love you_.” Her hand slides up his jaw against the scruff that’s grown out there. His eyes close at her familiar and welcome touch.

“Mmm,” she hums, her body pressing against his, “I love you too.” Bear noses his way in between them and Clarke makes a face, but runs her hand over the dog’s had. Bellamy finally releases her and follows her back to the kitchen. “Do you want anything to eat?” He shakes his head, looking down the hallway to where he knows the nursery is. He wants to see his daughter. Clarke follows his gaze and curls into his side. “She’s still asleep. Probably will be for thirty,” she checks her watch, “forty-five minutes. She took forever going down today, it’s like she knew you were coming home.”

Bellamy laughs, but doesn’t turn away from hallway. “Not like you didn’t have the date on the calendar circled since you found out.” She swats his chest but he grins, finally looking at her. “A sandwich would be great, if you’re offering.” Clarke nods, pulling away from him.

“Turkey or ham?”

He shrugs, “you know what I like.” She nods again, going to the fridge and pulling things out of it. “I’m gonna hop in the shower.”

Clarke nods, giving him another quick kiss. He knows they’ll have more time for each other tonight, but for now he wants to wash the rest of the army off of him and start to feel like himself again. Bellamy passes the nursery and can’t resist peeking into the darkened room. He sees a small lump in the crib, but he doesn’t move closer yet. He doesn’t know if she’s a light sleeper, or if the floors creak, or anything about her. He doesn’t know her mannerisms yet, and it’d be better to figure that out when she’s awake.

So he hops into the shower, scrubbing the rest of Iraq off of him. He knows the effects will linger for a few months, they always do. But it’s nice to feel clean again. He shaves his face and puts on his clothes, not the clothes the army assigns him.

Clarke’s sitting at the table looking at something on her laptop. She grins when she sees him and he sits next to her, taking a bite of his sandwich. “You shaved,” she points out.

“I did,” he swallows his food, “does it look that bad?”

She laughs, one of her hands grasping his tightly, “no. I liked it, it made you look rugged.”

Bellamy laughs loudly, “I can grow it back if you like it that much, don’t worry.” Clarke grins, looking back at her computer and scrolling through something. “What are you working on?”

“I’m just going over some lesson plans for the next couple of months. The school wants me to have plans till November.” Bellamy nods, remembering her complaining last month about how the school wanted them early. Her high schoolers enjoy art, and she doesn’t like to have to plan that far ahead. She says that they deserve the create freedom art gives them.

“What are you planning for right now?” So she tells him, her eyes lighting up like they always do when she talks about work. It’s one of the most endearing things about her. How much she cares about and loves her job. She likes working with high schoolers and she likes how much they can accomplish. Bellamy listens eagerly, laughing when he knows he’s supposed to.

They catch up. Skyping every once in a while was nice, but it’s overwhelming to be in the same room as her, to be able to touch her. See the blue of her eyes shine when she talks about something she’s passionate about.

They’re interrupted suddenly by a quiet rustling coming from the baby monitor. Bellamy’s eyes snap from hers to the hallway, and he swallows. “She’s waking up,” Clarke says, closing her laptop. “I’m gonna go get her, okay?”

Bellamy nods, grabbing her waist when she walks by. “What if—” He starts, and her hand rests on his shoulder gently, “she’s not going to know me, Clarke.”

“Of course she will,” she reassures, “it might take her a little bit, but she knows you. She’s seen you on a screen and I’ve shown her pictures. She’ll have to warm up to you. She’s shy. She’s always cranky when she wakes up. But she knows you, Bellamy.”

When he still looks hesitant, Clarke continues, “it’s not like I’ve been telling her that I’m her only parent, Bell. She knows you exist. She’s just going to have to see you to believe it.” He nods again, finally letting her go.

His hands are sweaty, his heart is in his throat. He’s about to meet his daughter, _his daughter_ , for the first time. How do you prepare for that?” His legs are shaky when he stands up as Clarke disappears into the nursery quietly.

Bellamy hears her quiet, soothing voice coming from the baby monitor but can’t focus enough on it to register what she’s saying. His daughter. It takes a few minutes, but then his wife appears again with a child in her arms, the only visible thing being the wild blonde curls.

He swallows as she gets closer, giving him a smile. She stops a couple feet from him and turns back to the baby. “Cassie,” Clarke murmurs, coaxing the baby out of her neck, “baby, look who’s here.” Cassie whines a bit, but she turns her head to face Bellamy. He’s met with eyes that match his and he swears his legs are going to fall out from beneath him. “Who’s that? Is that Daddy, Cassie?”

Bellamy blinks a couple times to clear his vision and steps closer to his wife and daughter. Cassie is still watching him with apprehensive eyes, a look he’s seen on Clarke before. She blinks, her little arms tightening around her mother’s neck. Clarke gives him an encouraging nod, smoothing Cassie’s curls back from her face. “Hi, Cassie,” Bellamy finally says, finding his voice. What do you say to your daughter who you’ve never met but so desperately wish you could have? The words, surprisingly, come easy to him. “I’m your daddy,” he murmurs, swiping under his eyes. “Can I—?” His throat closes up but Clarke nods.

He watches as she gently extracts their still sleepy daughter from around her. Cassie doesn’t make a sound as Clarke passes her to Bellamy and he’s worried he’s going to drop her. He’d been imagining this moment for months, and now it’s here. Hundreds of emotions are running through him, Bellamy doesn’t know how to process them. He holds her carefully, blinking to stop himself from crying. “I know I’ve been gone a long time,” Bellamy starts quietly, looking at his daughter.

She watches him, her eyes sweeping over his features, taking him in. He can’t help but do the same as he talks. His eyes, Clarke’s mouth. Her skin is a bit darker than Clarke’s and her hair is wild, much like how he knows his was at this age. “But I’m not going anywhere now. I’m gonna be here for a very long time,” he murmurs as Cassie blinks at him.

Bellamy swallows, watching as she looks back to Clarke, who only nods with a smile. Cassie turns back to him and reaches her hand up to his face. Her palm hits his cheek lightly and he chuckles a bit, tickling her stomach. She giggles and god, then he starts crying. His daughter. _God_. He wipes at his eyes again, trying to keep them open.

Clarke steps closer, a hand sliding up his back as she watches them interact. “She’s shy,” she murmurs, “but I think you’re gonna be fine.” Bellamy nods, unable to stop staring at his daughter. He’s missed sixteen months of this, he’s not missing a minute more. “I love you,” Clarke whispers and Bellamy finally looks at her. He dips down to kiss her, staying there until there’s a quiet whine from between them.

Then he laughs, dipping down to press a kiss to Cassie’s head. “I love you too,” he replies, “both of you. So much.” Bear barks from his spot and Bellamy practically rolls his eyes. “You too, Bear, god.” Clarke laughs and he watches as Cassie grins a toothy smile, her hands reaching up for his face again. “Holy _shit_ , Clarke—”

“Don’t curse in front of the baby,” she says quickly, a teasing tone in her voice. She rests her head against his shoulder as Cassie sticks a finger in his mouth, giggling endlessly. He can’t even bring himself to be angry, she’s so fucking cute.

“Okay, fine,” he says, poking his wife’s side with his free hand, “we had a baby, Clarke. Well, you had a baby.” Clarke laughs, tugging on one of Cassie’s short curls.

“She’s your baby, too, Bell.”

Bellamy nods, shifting Cassie a bit so she can look at her mother too. “I know. God, I’m never going again. Not now.”

Clarke’s breath hitches and she looks at him with so much hope in her eyes. “You mean it?”

He nods sharply, dipping down to kiss her again. “I do, I mean it. I’m gonna have to talk to my superior, but I mean it.” She laughs into his mouth, her hand sliding on his jaw. “I’m staying here.”

Cassie makes another noise of loneliness and he turns back to her, a bright smile on his face. “You hear that, Cass? I’m not going anywhere.”

* * *

 

A week later, Bellamy’s getting breakfast ready when he hears Cassie’s giggles coming from the hallway. He peeks over and sees Clarke walking with her, the latter of the two looking exhausted.

Cassie squeals when she sees him, shaking Clarke’s hand from hers. And then she toddles to him, the brightest smile on her face. Bellamy grins, crouching down. He catches her when she stumbles, laughing when her chubby hands reach for his glasses. “I didn’t know you needed glasses, Cassie,” he mutters, standing up with his daughter in his arms. Bear jumps up and tries to lick both of them and Cassie tries to say Bear, but ends up saying “Ber”. Bellamy gives his daughter a kiss on the cheek and she giggles again.

Clarke smiles at him tiredly and he gives her an exasperated one in response. “Go lay back down,” he tells her, “get some sleep. I’ve got her.”

“Are you sure?” She says, raising her eyebrow.

He nods, putting the orange juice back in the fridge. “Yes. I missed so much of her life, Clarke. I gotta make up for it somehow. Besides, you look exhausted. Go to sleep.” She chews on her lip before nodding, padding into the kitchen to kiss him.

“Thank you,” she mumbles, tickling Cassie’s stomach. “Love you.”

“Me or the baby?” Bellamy says, earning a swat to his shoulder. He watches as she disappears back down the hallway their bedroom and he turns back to Cassie. “What do you say, kid? We get some breakfast and then go play?” Cassie opens her mouth at the word breakfast and he grins. “Breakfast it is.”

* * *

 

Bellamy’s already having a bad day when he pulls up to the daycare that Cassie goes to. Both of her parents work and they can’t just get a friend to watch her every day, so they settled on daycare. But he’s having a bad day when he goes in because work was awful and he’s still adjusting to not being at war every day of his life. He signs himself in and goes back to where he knows her stuff is. He hears laughter and voices from the playroom and it only gives him a headache at this point. He just wants to see his wife, his daughter, and his dog and go to sleep.

He pulls her small backpack over his shoulder and ventures into the room, his eyes searching for his daughter. One of the workers strides over to him and he forces a grin, “she’s been fussy today,” the woman starts. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, exhaling through his teeth. If she’s fussy now she’s going to be fussy the rest of the day.

“Great.”

Bellamy finds her on the side of the room with the books, one in her lap and about a hundred scattered around her. She’s turning the pages violently and he’s glad that children’s books are a lot sturdier than regular books or they’d be buying lots of books for the daycare. “Did you see her much this morning?”

“Hm?” He says, turning back to the woman. “Oh, not really. We were both up early this morning, I saw her for a few seconds before Clarke brought her.”

The woman nods. “That explains it.” He raises a brow as Cassie pulls _yet another_ book from the bookshelf. He knows she gets that from him. “She said she missed her daddy. In fewer words than that, but…” His spirits lift a bit, a small smile forming on his face. The owners of the daycare know of their situation and how Bellamy hasn’t been here. He’s been home two months and he was beginning to think she was never going to recognize him as her dad.

“Yeah?”

The older woman nods again, “yeah. You’re free to go get her, as long as she cleans up her books.”

Bellamy laughs a bit and nods, turning to walk to the corner. “Of course.” He’s careful when walking over, there are children and toys everywhere, but Cassie looks up as he gets closer.

Her face turns brilliantly happy in seconds and she’s pushing herself up to get to him. Her feet slide over books and he grins as she approaches him as quickly as her little legs can carry her. He scoops her up, laughing when her arms latch around his neck. “You have a good day, sweetheart?” Bellamy asks, looking down at the floor, “sure looks like you did.” His spirits continue to rise as Cassie gives him a kiss, well, her version of a kiss. He ends up just getting spit all over his cheek but Bellamy couldn’t care less.

Cassie nods, her head moving up and down quickly. Bellamy smiles, fixing her hair back in her clip. It never seems to stay for longer than a few minutes, but Clarke insists on pining her hair back. “Qwean up,” she says, and he nods.

“We have to clean up, that’s right,” he says, setting her back down. “Let’s clean up and we can head home, yeah? Momma’s waiting for us.”

Cassie nods again, tugging on his hand so he’ll sit with her to clean up. It takes them some time to clean up the books because Cassie wants to show him every book she pulled out, but he’s happy to sit and listen to his daughter babble about her day. At some point though, he knows it’s time to go and helps her carefully put the remaining few books away.

She grasps his fingers tightly as they walk out of the building. His hand practically swallows hers, so she resorts to holding onto his fingers. She continues to babble until they get to the car and then he picks her up to get her into her car seat. “Alright, up you go. Home to Momma.” Cassie fusses for a moment, her arms latched around his neck. Bellamy laughs, tickling her sides. “C’mon, baby. Do you wanna see Momma and Bear?” Bellamy swears that dog loves Cassie more than he loves Bellamy. He can’t find it in him to be angry. Cassie and Bear are the best of friends.

Cassie nods vigorously and Bellamy rolls his eyes before taking the clip out of her hair all together. It’s never gonna tame her hair. She watches him as he gets her situated, her big brown eyes gazing at him thoughtfully. “What in the _world_ are you looking at?” Bellamy teases, pausing as she continues to stare at him.

Her tiny finger pokes his cheek. “Daddy?”

He swears his heart stops. Bellamy swallows and then nods. “Yeah?”

Cassie grins so brightly it’s like the sun is in his car. “Good. Daddy!”

Bellamy laughs, pressing a kiss to his daughter’s head. “Love you, Cassie. Let’s go home.”

He doesn’t stop smiling the entire drive home.


End file.
